The Leopard

Giuseppe di Lampedusa

Set in Sicily starting in 1860, The Leopard tells the story of Don
Fabrizio, Prince of Salina, and his and his family's adaptations to the
changes of the Italian Risorgimento.

While in many ways a traditional patriarch, Don Fabrizio is more
intellectual than his peers, with a serious interest in astronomy and
mathematics. When his nephew Tancredi throws in his lot with Garibaldi's
Redshirts, he is flexible enough to see the advantages of that, and
even to endorse Tancredi's marriage to the daughter of an uncouth but
up-and-coming member of the new liberal bourgeoisie.

Di Lampedusa's shrewd characterisations extend from Don Fabrizio to his
wife and daughters, his household, and the broader community; the social
ties of the old order and their psychological underpinnings are brought
to life. There are also some vivid descriptions of landscapes and houses.
The Leopard is an elegiac account of a way of life and its passing: its
final chapters describe Don Fabrizio's death in 1883 and the end of the
special relationship between his family and the Catholic Church in 1910.

Possibly the best known Italian novel of all time, The Leopard stands
out for its sympathetic portrayal of human failings and of the feudal
aristocracy of Sicily.